Wings Earth for iPhone: A Pleasant Flying Experience

There are flight simulators designed to develop proficiency, but this isn't one of them. It's basically a simul-game for iPhone and iPod touch that allows one to fly over various terrains with accompanying music. It's an ethereal experience, good for calming the nerves or an occasional diversion.

The product description says it all.

"Wings brings the fun, excitement, and relaxation of flying to everyone.... Tailor your flying to have fun or just relax and enjoy the scenery."

Wings Earth is all about the flying experience, sans any other activity or attentions.

HUD on

To reinforce that relaxation theme, there are several ethereal sound tracks that augment the experience of floating over the terrain. There's a head's up display that can be toggled on and off, and a throttle. One can also set the default for whether the view is slightly down, straight out or up. These settings are in the iPhone Settings at the bottom, not in the app. Once those are set, the main page provides four virtual worlds to select from.

I noted that the sound comes only out of the headphone/earbud jack and not through the external speaker.

What I liked was the music, the sense of floating, and the fabulous, fabulous clouds. What I didn't like was the rapid emergence of terrain, brought on by the limitations of the platform, even when selecting long range setting. There is also an annoying ad for other Bottle Rocket apps the first few times the app launches.

HUD off

Flying is a tense proposition for any kind of aircraft, from balloons through F-22s. Even sailplane pilots have to be well trained and alert to keep from landing out. This app takes away all those cares, and just focuses on the sensation of flying. So, while it's technically a flight simulator, serious pilots, unless the subscribe to the theme of the app, won't find it of much use. The iTunes product page even points that out: if you're looking for flight training, go with X-Plane.

On the other hand, if you're in your cubicle at work, eating a hasty lunch and under stress, this app could help calm your nerves. Plug in some earbuds and float along in the sky.

The app is available in English, Chinese, Dutch, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

Wings Earth, Version 2.5 was released on June 23, and it's priced at US$1.99. The developer suggests rebooting the iPhone after install. It requires iPhone OS 2.1 or later and is 3.0 compatible.

Given what is does, it's fun, and I liked playing with it for awhile. But my sense is that, for most adults, whether they're pilots or not, interest will soon wane.